CFOs themselves say earnings are fudgedRomanek reports that, according to the research, CFOs believe that in any given year 20% of companies intentionally misrepresent their earnings using discretion within GAAP. The magnitude of the typical misrepresentation is quite material — about 10 cents on every dollar.

Indonesia scored poorly on a 2014 safety audit by the U.N. aviation agency largely because its Ministry of Transportation is understaffed, said two sources familiar with the matter, as the country struggles to cope with the expansion of air travel.

Airline / Airport Fees Under Scrutiny at World RoutesThe world may face a shortage of vital airport infrastructure in the next 15 years unless regulatory change sees airlines paying a fairer share of airport costs, according to Airports Council International (ACI World).

The Pentagon is planning a sharp increase in daily drone flights over conflict zones around the globe in the next four years as it tries to meet the reconnaissance and air strike needs of combatant commanders, a spokesman said on Monday.

Nuclear experts fall in behind ObamaDozens of arms control and nuclear nonproliferation experts have signed a statement endorsing the Iran nuclear deal, the latest salvo in a lobbying campaign battle ahead of a congressional vote next month on President Barack Obama's landmark agreement with Tehran.

Default Wave Looms As Energy Sector Credit Risk Surges To Record HighWith oil prices pushing cycle lows and Shale firms as loaded with debt as they have ever been, the spike in energy sector credit risk should come as no surprise as the hopes of the last few months are destroyed. At 1076bps, credit risk for the energy sector has never been higher. As UBS recently warned, more defaults are looming and, as we discussed this week, private equity is waiting to pick up the heavily discounted pieces.

Assange and Democracy's FutureDemocracy rests on citizens getting real facts and applying rational analysis. The ability of governments, including the U.S. government, to suppress facts and thus manage perceptions represents the opposite, a power over the people that WikiLeaks' Julian Assange threatened.

Propaganda, Intelligence and MH-17Propaganda is the life-blood of life-destroying wars, and the U.S. government has reached new heights (or depths) in this art of perception management. A case in point is the media manipulation around last year's Malaysia Airlines shoot-down over Ukraine.

## China ##China, the Hollow DragonIn terms of profitability and trade-generated wealth, China is a hollow dragon.Its gains have come on the coattails of the yuan's peg to the U.S. dollar and an unprecedented four-fold expansion of debt from $9 trillion in 2008 to $28 trillion today.